> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.gridshift.studio/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Linked Clips

> Reuses one clip across many places on a track: edit it once and every copy follows. Select a clip and press ⌘D for a linked copy.

## Create linked clips

<video src="/videos/linked-clips-duplicate.mp4" poster="/videos/linked-clips-duplicate.jpg" aria-label="Command D twice: each linked copy lands right after the last and stays selected" title="Command D twice: each linked copy lands right after the last and stays selected" muted loop playsInline preload="none" />

Select a clip and press `⌘D`. The linked copy lands right after it and stays selected, so `⌘D` again extends the run.

<video src="/videos/linked-clips-stamp.mp4" poster="/videos/linked-clips-stamp.jpg" aria-label="With the chord clip selected, Command-click under the second and third drum loop stamps a linked copy at each spot" title="With the chord clip selected, Command-click under the second and third drum loop stamps a linked copy at each spot" muted loop playsInline preload="none" />

You can also stamp a copy: with a clip selected, `⌘`-click an empty spot on its track, or `⌘`-drag to place the ghost first. Or press `⌘C`, click a spot on the same track and press `⌘V`.

## See which clips are linked

<video src="/videos/linked-clips-see.mp4" poster="/videos/linked-clips-see.jpg" aria-label="Clicking a copy lights up every linked copy; a drum loop with no copies is highlighted alone" title="Clicking a copy lights up every linked copy; a drum loop with no copies is highlighted alone" muted loop playsInline preload="none" />

Click a clip. Its linked copies get a lighter highlight of the selection.

## Edit every copy at once

<video src="/videos/linked-clips-edit.mp4" poster="/videos/linked-clips-edit.jpg" aria-label="In Focus Mode, Command A and the up arrow move the notes a semitone; after Option up every copy shows the change" title="In Focus Mode, Command A and the up arrow move the notes a semitone; after Option up every copy shows the change" muted loop playsInline preload="none" />

Select a copy and press `⌥↓`, or double-click it, to open it in [Focus Mode](/edit/focus-mode.md). Paint a note, drag a fade or move the gain slider. Leave Focus Mode, and every copy shows the change.

## Create an unlinked copy

<video src="/videos/linked-clips-unlink.mp4" poster="/videos/linked-clips-unlink.jpg" aria-label="Command I unlinks the last copy; Shift Command D makes a copy that is not linked" title="Command I unlinks the last copy; Shift Command D makes a copy that is not linked" muted loop playsInline preload="none" />

Press `⌘I` to unlink the selected clip from its copies. Press `⇧⌘D` for a copy that starts identical but is not linked.

## Re-link identical clips

<video src="/videos/linked-clips-relink.mp4" poster="/videos/linked-clips-relink.jpg" aria-label="Shift Command I links the identical copy again, and selecting one lights up all of them" title="Shift Command I links the identical copy again, and selecting one lights up all of them" muted loop playsInline preload="none" />

Select a clip and press `⇧⌘I` (**Link Identical Clips**). Every identical clip on the track joins its linked group.

## Switch clips with the clip picker

<video src="/videos/linked-clips-picker.mp4" poster="/videos/linked-clips-picker.jpg" aria-label="In Focus Mode the clip picker at the start of the focus bar lists the track's clips; a click on another row swaps this clip for it" title="In Focus Mode the clip picker at the start of the focus bar lists the track's clips; a click on another row swaps this clip for it" muted loop playsInline preload="none" />

In Focus Mode, click the swatch at the start of the floating bar. Click a row to make the focused clip play that clip as a linked copy. `Escape` closes the picker.

## Good to know

* **Position and mute stay per copy; everything else is shared.** MIDI notes, the sample and the part of it the clip plays, time-stretch, fades, length and clip gain change on every copy at once.
* **Linking is same-track only.** Moving or pasting a clip to another track always unlinks it, and so does a stamp on another track.
* **Some edits unlink the clip they change** and leave its copies as they were: splitting, joining, duplicating part of a clip, and per-clip level and trim edits. The full list is under Details.
* **Link Identical Clips is the bulk inverse of Unlink Clip.** Clips whose body matches exactly (same notes or sample window, fades, gain and length) become one linked group.
* **Linking works for MIDI, audio and automation clips.** Use it for anything that repeats: a drum loop, a bassline, a filter sweep that comes back every eight bars.

> **Details**
>
> * **A linked copy is the same idea as clip aliases in Bitwig or reused patterns in FL Studio**, with nothing to name or manage.
> * **Stamp shows a ghost** where the copy will land. The new copy is linked and selected, so the next `⌘`-click stamps another one.
> * **Duplicating a group clip carries the link down.** Each child clip is duplicated as a linked copy.
> * **A clip with no copies is highlighted alone** when you select it, so you see at a glance which clips an edit will reach.
> * **Focus Mode shows three levels** on the focused track's clip headers: strongest on the clip you edit, lighter on its linked copies, faintest on every other clip.
> * **Dragging the edge of one copy** on the timeline gives all of them the new length.
> * **Unlink Clip acts on one clip.** With several selected it does nothing, because it cannot tell which copy you mean. Its edits stop carrying to the others and their highlight goes away. After **Duplicate Unlinked**, selecting the copy lights up nothing else.
> * **Edits that unlink:** splitting (`⌘E` **Split Clips at Playhead**, `⇧⌘E` **Split Clips at Transients**, or a mouse slice) unlinks every piece; duplicating only part of a clip, for example across a partial marquee; moving or pasting to another track; and **Join MIDI Clips** (`⌘J`), whose joined clip starts unlinked.
> * **Per-clip level and trim edits unlink too.** The `0`–`9` [clip-gain keys](/arrange/clip-gain.md), **Trim Silence**, **Align Clips to Downbeat** and clip gain painted in [Dynamics Mode](/edit/dynamics-mode.md) change exactly the clips you selected, so their copies keep their level. Use the gain slider in Focus Mode when a gain change should reach every copy.
> * **Use Link Identical Clips** on copies recorded in a row, duplicated unlinked, or pasted from another track.
> * **Identical means exactly identical.** A copy whose gain or length you changed is not linked. That includes slices recorded at different trigger levels, or held for slightly different lengths with Record Quantize off.
> * **What Link Identical Clips links follows your selection** (table below). Identical copies outside a selection of several clips stay free, so you can link the chorus copies and leave an intro copy alone.
> * **Link Identical Clips never links across tracks**, even when a sweep covers several. Clips that differ in any way are left untouched, the pass is one undo step, and with no clip or track selected the Command Palette shows it as unavailable.
> * **The clip picker lists every distinct clip on the track.** Its swatch in the floating bar is in the track color, with the number of linked copies when there are any, and a chevron. Each row has a badge with how many clips use it, a live mini-preview (a waveform for audio, note blocks for MIDI, the curve for automation) and a checkmark on the one the focused clip plays.
> * **A picked row plays and shows immediately**, and the focused clip becomes a linked copy of it.
> * **The picker's footer has Unlink and Link Identical.** **Unlink** is off when the clip is not linked to anything. **Link Identical** links every clip on the track exactly like the focused one, and is off when there is nothing identical. A second `Escape` exits Focus Mode.

> **What Link Identical Clips links**
>
> | Selection | What gets linked |
> | - | - |
> | One clip focused or selected | Every identical clip on that track joins its group |
> | A marquee | The clips the marquee touches |
> | Several clips selected | Grouped by identical content, each group linked. Clips already linked to a selected clip follow along; an existing group is never broken up |
> | Nothing selected | The selected track, swept whole. A group track sweeps all its member tracks; automation lanes only when you select the lane itself |

> **Keys**
>
> | Action | Shortcut |
> | - | - |
> | Duplicate, linked | `⌘D` |
> | Duplicate, unlinked | `⇧⌘D` |
> | Stamp linked copy | `⌘`-click |
> | Copy / paste (same track = linked) | `⌘C` / `⌘V` |
> | Unlink Clip | `⌘I` |
> | Link Identical Clips | `⇧⌘I` |
>
> The complete grid: [Timeline Shortcuts](/shortcuts/timeline.md).


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